Living For Her
by TheFreelancerSeal
Summary: With his promise kept, Shadow journeys to experience the things that Maria had always wished to do, to see the things she wanted to see. My version of the five senses challenge.


**A/N: **So, it looks like inspiration has hit again for another fandom. Let me say, I'm a big Sonic fan. He was one of the first video games I really remember, and I've followed as much as I could ever since the Genesis days. I even bought the action figures and started making up my own adventures for them, but of course I was a lot younger then, and that was a long time before I found this site too.

Anyway, I must be a glutton for challenge or punishment, because I decided to undertake this little challenge I've seen some writers take. The challenge is to write a story for the five senses, or something to that effect. I wasn't challenged to it myself, but I thought it'd be interesting to try. I also thought that it would just fit Shadow perfectly.

So, here's my first chapter and my first go. Hopfully I'm not going in way over my head with this one. Enjoy.

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**Sight - Canyon**

Shadow peered into the unending darkness, though all he could see were faint outlines of rock formations off in the distance. He could also make out the gaping chasm somewhere before him, though he did not dare take so much as a single step from the rock overlooking it. He looked up into the sky overhead, and he let out a heavy sigh. Above him, a blanket of black and blue covered the earth. He looked into the eyes of the night, the small dots of white, some flickering but others shining brighter than even one of the seven emeralds. From here, the stars seemed to go on and on, and he thought that they shone brighter than even when he saw them from the colony.

His sight suddenly blurred as he continued to meet the gaze of the sky. A stray tear had formed, and he quickly wiped it away. He did not want to have his vision impaired in any way. He had waited too long for this moment. Still, when he surveyed the utter loneliness of the empty landscape, he again wondered if he should go, but he quickly reconsidered the notion. He had waited in this solitary and lonely place since he watched the twilight paint the canyon in shades of orange flame and the sky in pale pink and purple. He would see this through to the end, even if the night offered him no company at all. More than the time he had spent in awaiting the sight, he knew he did not do it only for himself.

A faint light appeared on the horizon before him. It would not be long now. Once more, Shadow looked towards the twinkling eyes above him before they would fade away. He wondered if Maria's eyes were among all the others, as he continued to look up at the sky. Did she see the things he saw, and if she did, was it all that she had ever imagined? Shadow couldn't say, though he hoped that her shimmering eyes of blue were added to the vast number of stars above him.

The distant horizon appeared as a single line of fiery orange. A few clouds had settled above the coming sun, and they looked rather dark to Shadow. Above the growing flame, the sky was only now lightening. In the place of a dark blue with its numerous specks of white, Shadow saw only the pale azure hues of the early dawn. The flaming lights of the daylight grew lighter near the single spot of sheer hot white, while all around the sun the shades of orange turned deeper. At his feet, the rocks and the great canyon before his eyes appeared to catch fire in an endless visage of burning orange. It was a morning worthy of any remembrance. But it was not this scene that Shadow saw, even though he looked upon it still.

He had often seen Maria staring deeply into the blackness of space, watching the flickering of the stars, though, to Shadow, no stars compared with the gleam in her blue eyes. She would look as much as she dared when she saw the blazing ember that was the sun.

"Do you suppose the sun looks the same way it does here down on Earth?" she would ask and then often ask again.

As he continued to stand fixed to the spot where he had waited out the night, Shadow thought back to that question. He wished that she had lived. He wished that her eyes could have seen this sight. He could not find the words to describe what he saw as he continued to watch the sun paint the landscape in such bright color. He did not know how he could put the striking shades of morning into words, for it only with the eyes could they be best depicted. But her eyes would never see this view. Her eyes would not see the greatness of the canyon dawn. Her eyes would never see the sun that she had always witnessed but never saw in the fullness of its glory.

Shadow turned to walk away, for he could not bear the sight any longer. He stopped only long enough to say a few words.

"No, Maria. The sun looks nothing like it did from the ARK. It's more than you ever imagined it would be."

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**A/N:** I hope I did this well. Unlike Shadow, I have never looked over a canyon in the morning, but I imagine it's a breathtaking sight. Well, more than watching the sun rise from a window anyway. But that's what Google Images is for.

This is a lot shorter than most of the other pieces I've written. If any of you ever migrated to or from the Fire Emblem section and saw my name, you'll know what I'm talking about. Hopefully that means less time to update, but we'll see. Trying to juggle three other chapter'ed fics and an academic life aren't easy.

Anyway, I hoped you liked it, and reviews are well-appreciated.


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